A Soft-Hearted Skeleton
by GoldGuardian2418
Summary: On a trip to Hotel Transylvania, Vampirina and her friends, Bridget and Poppy, run into Gary. Can the skeleton convince them that he's truly harmless? A gift story for newbienovelistRD. :)


**newbienovelistRD gave me the idea for this story. Here you go, Amiga! This one's for you! :)**

 **Vampirina belongs to Disney. Hotel Transylvania The Series and the Hotel Transylvania movies belong to their respective owners. I own nothing.**

* * *

 **A Soft-Hearted Skeleton**

Vampirina was excited as she had her bag packed and was waiting for Bridget and Poppy to come over. The Hauntleys had decided to take a vacation and go to Hotel Transylvania and Oxana had asked Poppy's mother and Bridget's mother if the girls would like to come. Bridget's mother had agreed as she had been wondering who she could trust to watch over her daughter while she was on an important business trip. Bridget was unsure, but Oxana assured her that it would be fun and she'd get to travel with them. Seeing as she'd be with people she trusted, the bespectacled girl agreed.

Poppy was ecstatic and begged her mother to go. Edna had been a little reluctant, but then agreed. Edgar had come down with the flu and Edna was taking care of him, so she agreed that Poppy could go.

The doorbell shrieked and Chef Remy answered it after seeing it was two of his favorite humans. "Ah, there you are," he said pleasantly.

"Chef Remy!" They exclaimed, hugging the skeleton, who scooped them up and hugged them.

"Are you girls ready for vacation?" He asked.

"Yeah," said Poppy.

Bridget grew a little nervous. "Is it true that Hotel Transylvania also has monsters?" She asked, sounding a little scared.

" _Oui,_ it is now a hotel for both humans and monsters," the skeleton said gently. "Don't be frightened, _chere,_ the monsters there are very nice."

"Like you guys?" Poppy asked.

" _Oui,"_ Remy said. "Some even work closely with humans to help ease any tensions."

Boris came up to them. "Not only that, there will be monster children there around your age," he said. "You just might make a few friends."

Though Bridget was still unsure, she did want to go see the famous hotel and she'd be with her friends, who she knew would help her stay safe.

* * *

 _A few hours later..._

The Hauntley's hearse landed outside of a magnificent hotel that was as big as a castle. "Whoa," Poppy said in amazement. "It's huge!"

"Yes, so that many monsters and humans can stay here without having to worry about waiting for a room," Boris said with a smile. "I booked a full suite and an adjoining suite for us. From the pictures, it's quite magnificent."

A pumpkin-headed bellboy came out and gathered their luggage. Bridget gave a surprised squeak when she saw him, her eyes wide with fear, but to her surprise, the monster simply gave her a gentle pat on the head and an understanding smile before pushing the cart with the bags up the steps. Poppy looked at Vampirina, who giggled.

"I think he understood that he startled Bridget and wanted to show her that he didn't hold it against her," the small vampire said gently.

"Monsters don't blame children for being a bit startled," said a familiar voice and they turned to see Count Dracula had been the one to speak. "Oxana and Boris Hauntley and young ones, welcome to Hotel Transylvania."

"Thank you, Dracula," Oxana said politely.

"It's amazing!" Poppy said with a smile.

"I can't wait to see what the inside is like!" Vampirina said, transforming into a bat in her excitement.

Dracula laughed warmly. "It's larger on the inside," he said before noticing Bridget looked a bit nervous but was trying not to show it. He placed a hand gently on the young girl's shoulder. "Don't worry, young one. All the monsters here are friendly."

She swallowed hard, but nodded, holding back a whimper as she followed her friends inside.

When they reached their room, the girls were excited to have a suite to themselves while Boris and Oxana were in the adjoining suite next to them. "And the two are connected so that if you girls need anything, we'll be right here," Boris said.

"Why don't you girls go exploring for a bit?" Oxana suggested. "You could meet some of the children here and have fun."

"Just don't go outside the hotel grounds," Boris cautioned them.

"Okay, Papa, we'll be careful," Vampirina promised.

"We'll stick together," Poppy said, gently taking Bridget's hand. The bespectacled girl gave her friend a grateful look.

But little did they know that they would have quite the adventure before evening fully set in.

Everything had gone well at first as the girls explored the castle, being careful not to disturb any of the guests, though the shrunken heads did startle them at first before the girls giggled, but took the advice of the shrunken heads to keep quiet as some guests were sound asleep at the moment.

One of the doors suddenly creaked open, making Bridget yelp as she clung to Poppy and Vampirina. "What was that?" She asked with a whimper.

Poppy noticed a skeletal hand coming out of the door that had opened and she swallowed hard. "Um, I think we might have accidentally awoken someone," she said and was prepared to go up to the person and apologize when the person suddenly came into view and made the three girls freeze in their tracks.

The person wore a purple cloak with a hood that hid their face and they had a strange necklace around their neck, but what clued the three on the person's identity were the skeletal hands that held a sharp scythe.

Bridget let out a scream, as did Poppy, and the two humans turned and ran as fast as they could. Vampirina stood there and she looked very nervous as she knew all-too-well who stood before her. "M-Mr. Death?" She asked in a fearful voice before she suddenly transformed into a bat and flew as fast as her wings could carry her.

Gary sighed, but he didn't hold anything against the three girls. "Well, let's see, who do I go after first?" He asked himself.

He spotted the bespectacled girl peeking out from one of the rooms and quickly ducking back in when she spotted him. "Alright, then, you're first, little one," Gary said to himself and headed off after her.

* * *

Bridget ran down one of the halls looking for a place to hide and turned to look and see if the scary skeleton was following her. Her eyes bulged in fear when she saw him just a few feet behind her. Shrieking in fear, she turned and ran into an open door, finding an empty room and she quickly dove under the bed, shutting her eyes tightly.

Gary entered the room and quietly closed the door, locking it and putting his scythe aside as he glanced around for the young girl. "Hello?" He cooed, keeping his voice at a gentle tone. "Come out, come out, wherever you are, little one."

The bespectacled girl didn't move an inch and waited until she heard the door open again and close. After a moment more, she slipped out from under the bed and stood up, but before she could take a step, two arms grabbed her, making her scream in fear and struggle, but her captor's grip was too strong and she whimpered when she noticed the arms were clad in purple with skeletal hands at the end. "Hey, relax, kid," she heard him say, but she whimpered again, too frightened to calm down.

Gary gently set her on the bed, noting the young girl's wide eyes and he sighed, resting a hand lightly on her head. "Hey, it's alright. Shh," he said soothingly. "Yeah, I'm who you think I am, but I'm not going to hurt you."

Bridget didn't look reassured and the cloaked skeleton looked thoughtful before he perked up. "Hey, how about a friendly bet?" He asked.

The bespectacled girl gave him a confused look and he chuckled. "If you giggle, I win. If not, you win," he said, his fingers gently poking and tickling her sides. "But I don't give up and I'm not going to until you're giggling yourself silly."

Bridget tried not to laugh as she squirmed to get away, but that was hard with the skeleton tickling her and a few giggles escaped her, making her captor gasp in happiness. "I hear giggling," he said teasingly as she tried not to laugh, but it was getting harder.

Gary then reached over and gently lifted up the young girl's shirt just enough to expose her belly button and he blew a big raspberry into her stomach, which broke Bridget's resolve and she squealed with laughter as Gary chuckled. "Cootchie, cootchie, coo! What a ticklish little one!" He cooed teasingly.

The young girl couldn't stop laughing as she was tickled to pieces by the skeleton who didn't seem as scary now as he tickled her belly button with one finger, blowing another raspberry into her neck, which again made her squeal with giggles.

Finally, Gary stopped, seeing the little one was trying to catch her breath as she lay on the bed. Her glasses had gotten knocked askew in her struggling and the skeleton chuckled, kindly and gently straightening out the girl's glasses. "You doing okay?" He asked, gently pinching her left cheek.

Bridget looked at him, her confusion evident on her face. "Um, who are you?" She asked.

"I'm Gary," he said. "Also known as the Grim Reaper."

She looked at him and he chuckled. "Hey, don't worry. You've got a long way to go, kiddo," he reassured her. "I didn't mean to scare you and your friends earlier."

The bespectacled girl looked a little embarrassed. "Well, we didn't mean to disturb you," she said honestly.

"Disturb me?" He repeated before he realized what she meant. "Oh, no. You girls didn't wake me up. I was already awake and heard your voices and grew curious."

"Oh," she said, surprised before giggling as he playfully tickled her neck.

"Well, now that you're feeling better, I'm going to go find your friends," he said, picking her up. "But first, do you like music?"

She nodded and he brought her down to the three Mariachi skeletons, who smiled gently at her. She shied against Gary, looking at the three unsurely, but the trumpet player came forward, gently accepting the young girl from Gary, nodding. "These guys play the best music," the cloaked skeleton said before he took off to find Poppy and Vee.

Bridget looked at the trumpet player, who smiled and let out a Mariachi trill that his comrades echoed before they sat down and began playing. The young girl sat in the tall skeleton's lap and watched as he expertly played the trumpet and tapped his foot to the beat. The catchy tune made the girl smile and she began clapping along to the beat, happy giggles spilling from her that made the three musicians smile.

* * *

Poppy was hiding in another room and now came out, looking around slowly before breathing a sigh of relief and was about to look for Vampirina when two hands suddenly tickled her sides, making her laugh in surprise as she turned to find the very skeleton she had been hiding from behind her, but before she could get a chance to escape, he scooped her up, playfully holding her upside-down as he continued tickling her stomach.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! HEY! NOHOHOHOHO!" She pleaded.

"Oh, yes," he said teasingly. "I've got a very ticklish little prisoner, don't I?"

Poppy giggled and squirmed, but couldn't escape as the skeleton continued tickling her for a bit before he stopped, gently lifting her up so that she was right-side-up and letting her rest her head on his shoulder. The young girl took time to catch her breath before she looked up at him and cocked her head in confusion. "How come...?" She started to ask.

"How come I'm tickling you instead of scaring you?" He gently finished for her. She nodded and he chuckled. "Hey, just because I'm the Grim Reaper doesn't mean I don't know how to have fun. Plus, I wanted to make it up to you for scaring you back there."

He gently set her down. "Beside, you and your friends have a long ways to go," he said, ruffling Poppy's hair gently, making her giggle again. "Now, where do you suppose your vampire friend went?"

Poppy glanced up and found the tapestry on the wall beside her moving and she gently pulled it away to reveal Vampirina in her bat form, but she apparently had a bad case of the batties because she kept turning back from her bat form to her regular form. Gary gently caught her. "Hey, easy there, little one," he said gently, holding her in a hug. "Take a deep breath."

His gentle voice got through to the panicking vampire girl and she took a deep breath, trying to calm down, but that was hard for her to do. Noticing this, Gary chuckled. "One thing about vampires, whether in regular form or bat form, they're very ticklish," he said.

"Really?" Poppy asked in surprise.

To prove this, Gary began tickling Vampirina's stomach, to which the vampire giggled and laughed as the skeleton tickled her stomach in both her bat form and her regular form, but Poppy noticed that as Gary tickled her friend, Vampirina wasn't changing as rapidly now, as if the tickle torture was calming down the batties. She giggled as she watched.

Vampirina giggled until she caught Gary's hand in her own, making him chuckle. "Looks like your case of the batties went away," he said, gently tugging one of her bat tails, making her giggle again. She then looked at him sheepishly.

"Um, sorry we got scared," she said.

"Hey, don't worry about it," Gary said gently. "Besides, I got to convince you and your friends that you didn't have to worry."

They heard giggling and saw Bridget riding on a tall skeleton's shoulders as he played the trumpet while two other skeletons played a guitar and what looked to be a bass. Oxana and Boris were behind them. "Oh, there you are!" Boris said in relief. "We were worried when we couldn't find you."

"Sorry, Papa, we ran into a guest," Vampirina said, gesturing to Gary.

Oxana gasped when she saw him. "Gary, is that you?" She asked.

He gasped as well. "Well, shake my hourglass! Oxana! Boris!" He said.

Boris was surprised. "Why, Gary!" He said, shaking the skeleton's hand. "It's been a long time since graduation, old friend."

"Sure has," Gary said and a grin was in his voice. "And you finally got the guts to court Oxana, huh?"

The teasing tone of the skeleton's voice made the girls giggle and Boris looked a bit sheepish, but nodded. "Yes, I did," he said and smiled. "And I see you met our daughter and her human friends from Pennsylvania."

"Sure did," the skeleton said, a smile in his voice.

They all headed for the living area where the Mariachi skeletons continued playing as the others visited. Poppy and Bridget sat on either side of Gary while Vampirina sat on a stool by the skeleton's feet, enjoying everyone's company and the girls were happy to be friends with a soft-hearted skeleton.

* * *

 **Please leave a review, but no flames!**

 **GoldGuardian2418**


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